Peafowl questions

[peepkeeper1]

I'm new to raising peafowl, I recently hatched my first peachick. It's about 2-3 weeks old now. I'm pretty sure it's a male because when I play with him he fans his little tail feathers and shakes his wings. My questions are 1) is there a sure way to tell the gender of a peachick? Will female chicks fan out too? 2) can a peacock live alone? Right now I have my little one in with some chickens his age and they are getting along well, but I'll have to separate them at some point because the peacock can't stay in my coop. 2) even if I get it a mate when it is older will it fly off? I've heard some people say they can free range just fine and always come back at night or just never go far. Others swear that the only way they will stay put is if they are in a cage. I'd like to let my peafowl free range. I suppose I could clip their primary feathers like you do for guineas and geese? Any opinion is welcome. Thanks

 

[CascadiaRiver]

I am not an owner of peafowl, and all I know is from my friend who has a pair of them so take what I say with a grain of salt. I am not sure of sexing chicks but I think like with most birds it would want to have company, it could maybe make friends with the chickens, geese and guineas if you let it but I wouldn't think that such a social creature like a bird would want to be alone for too long And my friend free ranged for a while with her pair, they flew around and made beautiful sounds but the female of the two ran off (probably either to make friends with the peacocks a few miles away or to go have babies somewhere) and she hasn't come back yet, and its been probably 5 or 6 months. So she penned up the boy and he doesn't make sounds anymore, though is very happy with his duck friends lol. Either way what happens with yours good luck and I wish I could help you more!

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC! Can you post some pictures of your peachick?

 

[Midnightman14]

1. You can get it DNA sexed but you can reliably tell around 8-12 weeks if it's male or female.
2. Peafowl are social and prefer more of their own species for company. They should not be mixed with chickens. Chickens carry diseases that usually don't hurt them but will kill peafowl. Similarly peafowl can be carriers of disease that won't hurt them but are disastrous to have spread in a chicken flock.
3. When it comes to free ranging it can be a bit of a gamble. The more peafowl there are around the more likely they won't leave. I have 12 adults of various color mutations around and when I used to free range I never had any wander off because everyone else stuck close to the house. I now only seasonally free range one of my males and the farthest he goes is my front yard.
4. NEVER clip a peafowl's wings especially if you plan to free range. The birds need to be able to get away from predators if they free range. Clipping also effectively ruins a breeding season too because the males need their primaries to brace themselves and successfully mate.

 

[KsKingBee]

1. You can get it DNA sexed but you can reliably tell around 8-12 weeks if it's male or female.
2. Peafowl are social and prefer more of their own species for company. They should not be mixed with chickens. Chickens carry diseases that usually don't hurt them but will kill peafowl. Similarly peafowl can be carriers of disease that won't hurt them but are disastrous to have spread in a chicken flock.
3. When it comes to free ranging it can be a bit of a gamble. The more peafowl there are around the more likely they won't leave. I have 12 adults of various color mutations around and when I used to free range I never had any wander off because everyone else stuck close to the house. I now only seasonally free range one of my males and the farthest he goes is my front yard.
4. NEVER clip a peafowl's wings especially if you plan to free range. The birds need to be able to get away from predators if they free range. Clipping also effectively ruins a breeding season too because the males need their primaries to brace themselves and successfully mate.

Good advice!

 

[peepkeeper1]

Thanks y'all. I've been hand raising the little guy so far. I do however have him in with some baby chicks his age so he's not lonely. They were all brooded and hatched at the same time in my incubator. So they get along well. I do plan on separating them when the chickens can go in their own coop. Y'all have all had great advice!! Per request here are some pics he fell asleep in the last one.

 

[casportpony]

Ah, he looks so happy!

 

[KsKingBee]

Ah, he looks so happy!

And cute!